Wednesday, February 18, 2009

2009 Pan-Pacific Championship Key Player Profiles

This season's PPC tournament begins tonight in Los Angeles. Here is a quick profile of the key players on the Asian rosters for the tournament. (Thank you wikipedia!) Here is an MLS press release about the rosters from a couple of days ago.

Suwon Bluewings F.C.수원 블루윙즈F.C.South Korea

Lee Woon-JaeThe 35 year old goalkeeper has made over 100 appearances for South Korea and was the starting keeper in the 2006 world cup.

Song Chong-GugSong has been on two South Korean World Cup squads and played in the Dutch league with Feyenoord between 02-05. He has recently been linked with a move to Fulham in the Premiership.

Li WeifengLi has represented the Chinese national team over 100 times and had a very brief trail with Everton. He is known for rather poor sportsmanship and he was thrown off the Chinese national team for hitting a player.

Shandong Luneng Taishan山东鲁能泰山China

Li JinyuLi is considered one of the best strikers in China, although his goal scoring form has dropped off considerably in the last two seasons. He spent one season in France with AS Nancy and has been a regular starter for the Chinese National Team.

Aleksandar ŽivkovićThe 31 year old Serbian Midfielder previously played in the J-League with Jubilo Iwata before moving to China. He represented the Serbia and Montenegro national team 2 times in 2001.

Oita Trinita大分トリニータJapan

UesleiThe 36 year old Brazilian was J-League Top Scorer in 2003 with Nagoya Grampus Eight, where he scored 81 goals in 114 overall games. He has since bounced around clubs in Brazil and Japan, scoring 4 goals for Atlético Mineiro, 33 goals for Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 06 and 07, and 7 goals last season for Oita.

Daiki TakamatsuThe 27 year old Japanese forward has made over 200 appearances for Oita Trinita scoring over 50 goals. He was the J-League Cup MVP last season and is one of he few Oita players with International experience.

Akihiro IenagaThe 22 year old midfielder joined Plymouth Argyle in England on trial, but last month was denied a work permit so was forced to return to the J-League.

Mu KanazakiThe 20 year old midfielder made his full international debut for Japan last month against Yemen. He was the J-League Cup New Hero award winner, the prize giving to the U23 player that made the biggest contribution to their team in the competition.